This week I am thankful...
** that today is my last day of work before a day off tomorrow. I'm needing it before spending the weekend working in the dementia unit.
** that we didn't hear from our daughter during the night, which, I hope, means our grandson is okay. She brought him over for me to look at around 9:30 last night. He'd climbed up on the kitchen table, run around on it, slipped off the edge, bounced off the chair, and cracked his head off the dog crate. Mom was in the shower. Dad was supposed to be watching, but for a moment wasn't. We all know how fast it can happen. Colt was pretty subdued, but his eyes looked good. I think he was just worn out from a long day and the good cry he had after the fall.
** my hubby has been getting home just a little earlier since starting his new project on Monday. At least when I'm home. He's also said he's going to try and be off the weekends I'm off. It seems like there might be some cracks appearing in his workaholic attitude.
** for the wonderfully cooler temperatures we've enjoyed for the past week. I'm loving that it feels like fall in the evenings. I have one question, though. When I go out at night I can hear the tree frogs chirping away and some of them seem to be very close....so why don't I ever see them in my trees? Especially the one that shades the deck. I spend plenty of time sitting out there looking up into its branches. Yet I've never seen a single frog.
** that I was there in the dementia unit last night when one of our residents went into full exit seeking mode. This resident is always looking for ways to get out, but sometimes gets very persistant and that can lead to frustration, anger, and physically acting out against the staff. It can get particularly bad as the resident doesn't like certain staff members on sight. They are all of a similar physical look so we think it's an association with a bad memory. Anyway, the resident is kind of hateful to those staff members when in a good mood. It gets really bad when the mood goes south and last night this resident somehow managed to get the locked door on the unit open 3 times after dinner (that was just until I left...who knows after that). No one could get the resident to come back in and one nurse was pregnant. It was about to get ugly and I went running because I'm not the physical type the resident hates and we usually get along okay. I didn't want the pregant nurse to get hit. I was able to calm the resident a little and convince them to come back inside....I hope God forgives a little fib told to protect everyone. (I said the resident's daughter had called and would be there soon and wanted them to wait in the chairs inside.)
** that Tim worked on the bathroom remodel this past weekend and got nearly all of the tile on the wall. There are just a few little spots needing done then we can apply the grout and seal it. After that, it's nothing to put in the sink, toilet and fixtures.
** as always, for all of you!
Sounds as if you are fulfilling a crucial role there in the nursing home staff. I heard a program on NPR about dementia, and they were pretty clear that it's better to let the patient live peacefully with something that isn't true than to let them be agitated, so I think you did the right thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, we always try to meet them in their reality, not confront them with actual reality if it's at all possible because it only upsets and angers them.
DeleteOh my word! Quick thinking and reaction to the resident's acting out! Methinks your boss needs to thank her lucky stars you're not still behind the wheel of that school bus.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I feel like the staff in the dementia unit appreciate me, it's just my actual activities supervisor who leaves me feeling incompetent. But she is one of those people who has an opinion on everything and in her mind it's the only one that's right. She also doesn't have a very good opinion of the dementia unit as a whole. She criticizes everyone and everything connected to it.
DeleteJust curious - what happens if that patent did 'escape' - i mean, someone there to watch - let him out - I wonder what would actually happen. If he'd really flee - or its just a control thing? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteGlad the G-son is OK - a little bump & bruises & scars are all about growing up :) Life leaving its marks.
Hope you share bathroom remodel pics!
Well, the residents who are known escape risks have ankle monitors that will set off alarms if they go out one of the main doors of the building. All the doors in the dementia unit have alarms. Most that get out have been found wandering inside the building. Only one or two have gone out the front door and they were found pretty much as soon as they tripped the alarm so they were right there. No, not a control thing. Some of them really do seek to escape the confines. They may not know exactly what's going on or where they are, but they know they want out. Sometimes it's because there is still a small part of their mind that recognizes that they are losing their mind and they get frustrated and upset. It is so hard to watch when they have those moments. It's much easier for them once they get bad enough to not know that any longer. :(
DeleteOh my! I'm so glad there are people like you working with those patients. My dad got that way too. Trying to get out on them. I guess once or twice he swatted at caregivers too. He would never have done anything like that before alzhimers. Thank you for your service to the elderly.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words. I'm sorry your dad had to go through that...and your family also. I know it is hard. We have families who can't cope with it at all. Some live in denial and stubbornly argue for the staff to do things that just aren't right or possible in the hope that the person will "recover." Others just stop coming because it's too hard to see.
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